The present invention relates to a new and distinct variety of Zoysia sp., which is a member of the Gramineae family. The parents of `De Anza`, also referred to herein as `Z88-8` are native to Asia.
The new variety is the result of crossing the Zoysiagrass variety `El Toro` (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 5,845) as the female parent and an unnamed proprietary seedling indentified as UC #3 as the male parent. Hand pollination was performed under greenhouse conditions and seed was germinated under laboratory conditions. Seedlings were individually cultured in a greenhouse before transplanting into a field for evaluation and selection. The varietal denomination of the new variety is `Z88-8` and the commercial name is `De Anza`. The new variety is a sibling of the variety `Victoria` which is the subject of plant patent application Ser. No. 08/180,899, filed Jan. 13, 1994.
Sustained drought conditions in California have additionally increased the need for improved warm season turf grass varieties. Zoysiagrasses are well adapted for use under such conditions because of their low water use rates and high tolerance, however, acceptance has been low primarily due to loss of green coloration during the winter months as such grasses routinely go into dormancy.
`El Toro` Zoysiagrass is a much faster-growing variety of Zoysiagrass than others of the species, and it made Zoysiagrass more attractive to commercial sod producers. However, although `El Toro` exhibits a longer growing season than previously available commercial Zoysiagrass varieties, it does not remain green all year and also tends to turn purple during the onset of winter dormancy. In addition, the leaf texture of `El Toro` is considered to be somewhat coarse. The new variety is an improvement over Zoysiagrass germplasm available for use as turf grass such as `El Toro` Zoysiagrass.